Is society annoyed by children or does society cherish children?

Question

Here are some results based off the YA’s social views on children:
45.7 % Believe Society Cherishes children.
45.3 % Believe Society is annoyed by children.
8% Didn’t really answer.

However, 70% say society both cherishes and is annoyed by children … Whimps, I just took the view they seem to skew more towards while getting my average … So this result probably has a +/- margin of error of 20%.

Those who said society “cherishers” have claimed that “Children are the Future”
Those who say annoyed mainly blame the parents. Abortion, Child Beating, Lack of Funding for Schools, and lack of law’s and law enforcement of pedophiles show that society doesn’t cherish it’s children.

Answer 1

I think that, on the whole, society is annoyed by their children. It has nothing to do with having harsher laws against child abuse. And it's not a question of whether parents take good care of their children or prefer them amongst others.
When speaking about society's response to it's children, we are talking about children in public settings. I think it has to do with social tolerance of children's behavior. Brats or saints, children should have the right to share space with elders, in spite of them being noisy or any other unsuitable characteristic. A society that grants them no space to act "as children" is intolerant to them.
Accepting "cute" kids but not the rest is like accepting Uncle Tom but not M. L. King.
(See DOOBERY's answer for details)

Answer 2

I would love to say they cherish them, but I don't think that is the truth, when I was growing up, the motto was "children should be seen but not heard," I thought it was awful, but there was so much more respect back then,and now as I sit here typing this, maybe that was the way we were cherished and nutured.
I lived in Florida for a few years, close to a retired area, and I was amazed at how they treated younger children and young adults, it was like they had no use for them, and some would say "we have raised our children, and moved here to get away from everyone else's".
I hope and pray I never feel that way.
So yes I would have to say society is annoyed by children, which is so sad, because they are our future, but with the break down of home life and high rate of divorce etc.I ask myself how are the young to survive.

Answer 3

I think with the abortion rates and that thinking that a unborn child is not child at all that most likely our society is put out by raising children. I don't think it's the children themselves, rather the adults refusing to take responsibility for their actions and raising a child has become such a huge inconvience that society deemed it to say that it's not actually a person and the woman's choice whether she feels that the life in her body is worth living to her.

There are millions of abortions each year. It's staggering how many children never had a chance at life.

If they're so fortunate to actually make it in the world, you still tend to see a large level of selfishness within the parent and that discipline is no longer important in a young childs life, because the parents are too busy doing their own thing. Family used to be of the utmost importance within our soceity but over the span of the last century it's the pursuit of money and personal interests and often time children will get in the way of that...if you live by those rules

This isn't the case for all, but a strong majority within American society...it's pretty sad and things continue to get more and more bleek as time goes on

Answer 4

It's nice to think that society cherishes children. Advertising might speak differently. This is a very "me" oriented society; selfish, self-pleasing, materialistic. Children just don't fit into that picture very well. Watching the depressing news would also seem to convince you that there is a rise in child abuse and neglect. Some would argue that it isn't an increase, just availability of the media circus getting word out from areas we used to never hear from. And yet even in a big city, it does appear that it's on the increase. As our society becomes more focused on material items and money, children will become less a part of the picture. And yet even when they're not wanted, the ones not wanting them can't seem to keep their legs together or use something to keep from bringing them into the picture. I think our society cherishes the almighty dollar a lot more than it does a child.

Answer 5

I think you've got an interesting question. The problem is a person's definition of society.

In its strictest sense, "society" cherishes children because without children the entity will die. I use this entity to explain why there are so many child-safe laws. It's not because massive amounts of children have been harmed or killed that deserves a law but because this society entity wants to rear them in the safest environment ever. For instance, I don't remember hearing about thousands or millions of children dead each year from not being in a booster seat. However, society has just enacted a law which basically makes it so that wherever a child goes, so must his booster seat. Does this really benefit children? Probably not. Does it benefit booster seat manufacturers? Oh, yeah.

Now, if you are talking about society as just any random group of people then the answer is determined by the random group. People who make the conscience decision to not have children are usually a lot more annoyed by children. They forget that social skills are learned. Not everyone is "as mature" as they are.

If that random group of people are parents themselves, then they probably cherish the children. Take it one step further. If the random group of people are parents who chose for one reason or another to adopt, they they cherish those children even more.

I for one have never been annoyed by children. I have been annoyed by children who are not well disciplined by their parents. My wife and I made the decision to not have any biological children. There are too many children available for adotpion. Why create more?

Answer 6

My overall observation has been that individuals in society (USA) have become obsessed with working and money. Everyone seems to be too preoccupied and we often forget that children are the future and that they too have minds that need gentle guidance rather than strict rules and endless distractions such as television, video games, and millions of toys. It seems as if only those who have made children their job actually cherish them, even though, they probably don't make a lot of money working with kids.
Children have been brushed off, just like the elderly. Generally, no one values children's potential anymore, nor does anyone value the wisdom of the aging. Kids are put in daycares; old people are put in nursing homes. What kind of life is this? Birth, then childhood full of distractions, adolescence full of angst and confusion, adulthood full of work and stress to the point of near insanity, then old age when you've become senile after the mid- 50's realization that you've accomplished absolutely nothing in your lifetime. It's not just children that are treated as an annoyance, everyone treats everyone that way. That's why there are so many wars and so much hatred. If people could actually see the veil of negativity surrounding the planet, it would black out the sun. Few people cherish anything beyond themselves anymore.

Answer 7

I think a majority of society cherishes children. I USED to be one of those single women who was completely annoyed by children. I resented their squealing, their running around, their disruptions... now I have my OWN squealer! ;)

But seriously, one thing that finally occurred to me (as I became a lot less selfish and, hopefully, a bit more mature) is that it wasn't the children, it was the parents of the children, I should have an issue with, if any. And I'm talking about wild and crazy out of control kids... not a kid who is obviously crying because he or she is tired.

I'm talking about parents who bring their 3 year-old to an "R" rated film... so that child can scream and/or talk during the entire flick that I just paid $12 to miss. I'm talking about the 6 year old who chucks food from his plate onto the floor of the restaurant and at other diners (and who's parent does nothing). I'm talking about the 4 year old who has a screaming fit in the grocery store and starts hitting/kicking her mother because she isn't getting her way ( and the mother either impotently tells her to stop OR impotently screams at her to stop).

In all those situations, it's parents making bad judgment calls or just not exercising good parenting, discipline or courtesy in order to make sure their child is respectful to those that are around him/her.

Perhaps if those parents spent a little more time cherishing society, society would cherish THEIR kid.

But, in the scheme of things, I'd say those situations are certainly not the norm... that most children are a reminder of the wonder and joys WE had when we were small... and we love to see another being experiencing the same things.

Answer 8

Well the English Society is Annoyed by children. The Spanish, Italian and French Society cherish children and the others are a bit of both. I'm not saying all in english society is annoyed by children, some cherish them also, but it is very rare to see. European countries, have a balanced society, some cherish some are annoyed by children, is it balanced out in a good way. But in english it's unbalanced.

Answer 9

Interesting topic.

What has happened? How did we get to a point where we have to question whether or not to breed. Anyone out there watch nature shows? Seems that they breed as often as the population and resources will allow. The pack survival is a delicate balance of teamwork. Every see a lioness ask a lion for a dollar?

IF we are questioning the value of children then our perception may need a little adjustment. We have to breed for evolution to take place, we need young humans so we can pass on what we learned, so they can take what we have done and improve it when we are too old to fix it.

Personally, I have refrained from breeding as I am scared to death of my child having to grow up without.
The stress that is on parents these days is unbelievable as it is. How are 2 parents supposed to work jobs and manage a family? Let alone afford it. Kids need guidance. Have you ever noticed when a kid mimics you? That is because you are their hero. Right or wrong, they don't know what is going on.
Then the circus is shifting money left and right to everything but education. The public school system is a breeding ground for failure at best. I commend the teachers. They do it because they want to teach. They certainly don't get paid like we appreciate them guiding our children for us. Imagine how well a teacher would teach if they did not worry about anything?

Answer 10

Two words: antisocial behavior.

If someone is being antisocial, they are, by definition, "Opposed to social order or the principles of society." Be it a four year old who cannot stop making annoying noises or a sixteen year old who likes spray paint, any child who cannot conform to the expectation of the society in which they live will "annoy" society.

To be fair, the fault really lies at the feet of the parents, who fail to instill good social values to their children. But it also falls to other adults, including other family, teachers, and legal authority. To use the African proverb, "It takes a village to raise a child." Perhaps if society did cherish children, then such antisocial behavior would become a thing of the past.

Answer 11

I agree with some of the other posters and I will say that Society does not like other people's children. I work for a resort in Florida and in the winter time it is an adults park(mainly 55 and older.) We have alot of northern guests during the winter and if they see a kid they all panic and they act like they want to cut their own throats. They make the children feel very badly by making comments to them and saying "you shouldn't be here, this is an adult only park" which is not the case at all. I have had several children come in to the front desk crying over it and I also have had alot of pissed of parents in there too. Our resort had so many problems with this that we had to segregate the park. we have a pool area for adults only and one for families with children. However when their grandchildren are visiting and you try to enforce the rules that they so rudely forced us to apply(For Example: You grand-kids cannot swim at the adult pool.) they get mad and complain to the corporate office. I can understand if the kids are bad behaving but some people cannot look past their own children and that is a real shame.